Crash Hot Potatoes

I'm pretty sure these potatoes are not supposed to actually LOOK like they survived a horrible crash. But hey, they taste absolutely fantastic, and for that reason, I'm keeping this recipe and will make it often. I sprinkled dried thyme over the top instead of using fresh. The salt, pepper and herbs on top give a perfect flavor that makes it unnecessary to dress them up at all. The olive oil gives the skin on all sides a mouth-watering crisp. Yum, yum, yummmm!

Crash Hot Potatoes
josiahsmomm via The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Whisk Burger Buns

Another recipe I made when I was out of something in the kitchen (this has been happening more and more--and I have been learning to make a lot of things from scratch out of necessity!). We needed buns for sandwiches, and I had forgotten them on my grocery trip. So I thought I'd try out this recipe I had bookmarked in "Wildly Affordable Organic".  It does take time, but not a ton of effort. I used a bread machine to mix the dough because it is pretty sticky--you could use a food processor with the dough hook, too.


Whisk Burger Buns

Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Makes 12 buns

1 1/2 c. warm water
3 T. butter, melted
1 egg plus 1 egg white (save extra yolk for glaze)
3 1/3 c. plus 2 t. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. salt
1 T. plus 1 1/2 t. rapid rise yeast (2 packets)
2 t. oil for plastic wrap

Glaze
1 egg yolk
1 T. water
2 T. sesame seeds, optional

1. Combine all dough ingredients in a big bowl and stir to mix. Put extra egg yolk in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed for the glaze.
2. Knead dough using a bread machine or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook for about 8 minutes or knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Dough will be very soft, sticky, and smooth.
3. Oil a big clean bowl and put dough in to rise. Cover with a plate or lid so it doesn't dry out. Let dough rise for an hour or so until it has doubled in size.
4. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease the sheets. Oil or flour your hands just enough to keep dough from sticking. (Too much flour will make the buns tough). Put dough on a floured surface and cut into 12 even pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and then flatten. Space dough disks evenly on cookie sheets, 6 buns to a sheet..
5. Oil plastic wrap and cover each cookie sheet, stretching it barely tight to keep the buns from rising too high. Let rise for 30 to 40 minutes, until they have doubled in size.
6. Position two oven racks in the middle of the oven with enough room to put one set of buns on the lower rack without touching the rack above. Preheat oven to 375.
7. Carefully remove plastic wrap. Add water to egg yolk and whisk until smooth. Use your fingers or a brush to coat buns gently with glaze. Sprinkle glazed buns with sesame seeds if desired. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
8. Remove buns from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice crossways with a serrated bread knife before serving. Keep extra in container at room temperature or wrap well and freeze.

Source: Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson

Died and Went to Heaven Chocolate Cake

Wow! This cake is truly unbelievable! I cheated and used store-bought chocolate frosting, spread on while still warm so it would melt all over. The batter of the cake is VERY runny, and I thought for sure it would not turn out. But wow, that runny dough baked into something moist, rich and perfect. I did not use the dutch process cocoa, just regular unsweetened cocoa powder, and I baked the cake in a regular 9 x 13 cake pan instead of a bundt pan. I can't wait to have an excuse to bake this cake again! Then again--does chocolate cake need a reason???

Died-and-Went-to-Heaven Chocolate Cake

Source: www.eatingwell.com

16 Servings | Active Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 1 1/4 hours

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot strong black coffee

Icing

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons buttermilk, or low-fat milk

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 12-cup Bundt pan or coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Dust the pan with flour, invert and shake out the excess.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Whisk in hot coffee until completely incorporated. (The batter will be quite thin.)
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes; remove from the pan and let cool completely.
4. To make icing: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough of the buttermilk or milk to make a thick but pourable icing. Set the cake on a serving plate and drizzle the icing over the top.

Nutrition

Per serving : 222 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 27 mg Cholesterol; 44 g Carbohydrates; 3 g Protein; 2 g Fiber; 340 mg Sodium; 142 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 other carbohydrate, 1 fat

Fake Frosty

I found this ingenious little recipe from a few different sources, and I modified it to my own taste. It has the consistency of a frosty! My youngest son can't get ENOUGH of this...he has had 'ice cream' daily since I first tried making it. I use my Magic Bullet, but I think a food processor (still on my want list) would do a better job. I can't get over how much the texture and taste reminds me of soft-serve chocolate ice cream--and every day when Noah asks for his ice cream, I really don't mind him having it. :)

Fake Frosty
1 banana, frozen, cut into slices
1 t. milk
1 t. cocoa powder
1 squirt of honey

Put everything in the Magic Bullet and blend until smooth. Sometimes I microwave the banana for just 10 or 15 seconds before making recipe, so it's not hard as a rock.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies

I have made these at least 3 times in 2 weeks. My youngest son adores them. I like using pretzel rods (4 will make 1/2 c. once broken up) so that there are big chunks of visible pretzel. The combo of salty and sweet is awesome--though I like it without salt sprinkled on top, too. Either way, this is a great cookie recipe!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies
Michelle (MMmom)

Makes 24 cookies

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces
Pretzel Salt or Sea Salt

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and pretzels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

Roasted Carrot Coins

There are so many tasty and simple recipes at weelicious.com. Here is one for roast carrots that we all enjoyed!

Roasted Carrot Coins (Serves 4)

4 Medium Carrots, peeled and cut into coins, about 2 cups
1/4 Tsp Paprika
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place all of the ingredients on a baking sheet and toss to combine.
3. Roast for 30 minutes.
4. Serve.

source: www.weelicious.com

Herb Mincer

Another sweet gadget I found on clearance the same day I found my garlic chopper. I never really saw the need for something like this until I started using more fresh herbs. Chopping them up with a knife can be very difficult and messy. This tool really makes short order of getting a pile of nicely chopped herbs for any recipe! It's really easy to clean, too. I see lots of fresh herbs in my near future!